The Chinese Revolution at 60

AP Photo/Xinhua, Huang Jingwen

China held a major celebration yesterday to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.  No doubt there was much to celebrate.  China appears on the cusp of substantially greater influence in the world, to say the least.

I have been embarked, both personally and professionally, on a quest to understand China.  There is a stereotype in the U.S. of China as a totalitarian state that is utterly oppressive to its people.  I don’t believe the stereotype.  While the country is non-democratic, I do believe the government is responsive to the people.  And, while they do sugar-coat their history, particularly in how Mao is officially recognized, what country doesn’t?  There are strong forces in the U.S. that are absolutely intolerant of any internal criticism of our history.  They equate self-criticism with weakness.  I think our previous president and certainly his vice president subscribed strongly to that view.

So, I do view China in a much more nuanced way.  A recent opinion piece in the European Voice captures that nuance very well, I believe.  It was written by the last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patton.  He expressed the dilemma of Mao well when he writes:

But, whatever Mao’s terrible failings, during his years of absolute power there was a sense of common purpose and solidarity that went with shared hardship. Maoism was a curious and unique mixture of class warfare and socialist levelling, all enunciated by a man who believed that individuals – or at least Mao himself – could shape history rather than be formed by its tides and currents.

China is a force to be reckoned with and its role in the world is undeniably growing.  It is important for people in the West to drop the caricatures and understand China for what it is, a complex society that is finding its way as a world power.  Our understanding needs to be as sophisticated as our approach to this important country.